YUM

Hello from Missouri.  I'm Elise Morrison (Jared's cousin's wife). Terra invited me to the group and we are so excited to have set menu plans for at least one day a week. :)

I made the beef stew on Sunday. I used ground beef, but it turned out heavenly. Usually a new recipe is met with such complements as, "We like when you cook things that we're used to," or "You really don't have to experiment in the kitchen."  Luckily, this one was a winner! SO GOOD! It was simple to make and we loved it.

Catch up!

Okay, so I've been a slacker when it comes to posting and taking pictures! I'm going to try to be better! Let's start back to the pork chops and sliced apples. We really liked the pork chops! It was very easy and I will be doing that one again. The apple slices were good, but if I'm going to take the time cutting the apples I would rather make apple crisp! The squash casserole has been my favorite dish so far! I LOVED it! Nick and Weston not so much. In fact Weston hardly touched it. I had to go to a couple stores to find the butternut squash. It was very easy. I even thought it tasted better the next day. I guess I will make it when Nick is gone on trips! The whole wheat muffins we thought were okay. But they were again very easy to make!

A Win/Lose week

The Whole-wheat Applesauce muffins were a HUGE hit. We even used homemade applesauce from the apples we had picked earlier this year. I made them before church for a morning snack. (A benefit of late church) The first batch was gone so quickly that I made a second batch after we got home. The squash casserole didn't go over as well. I really liked it, but the girls did not. Jared said it was tolerable but not a favorite. I once again had the advantage of getting sugar reduction tips from Jennie and Martin before I made my food. Maybe we should just automatically start reducing the sugar in recipes from this cookbook. These people really like their sugar! I'm not sure why my family didn't like this dish. It was very tasty! Oh well, I guess you win some and you lose some.

I'm not eating that

Those were the words out of Westons mouth when we finished putting the spider together. He thought that eating spider bread was so fun! We all really enjoyed this fun bread for the week of Halloween! I definitely will do this again for Halloween! But we had the same problem as you Marty and Jennie, too much for just the three of us! We will only use half of the bread that it calls for next time! That was a lot of bread! But FUN!
The Pumpkin Bisque was very interesting! Nick and I were not so sure what to expect. But we were pleasantly surprised! It was incredibly simple which I really liked! Nick agrees with Jared that it is not a great main dish. I'm not sure I will make this again. But it was fun to try!

Apples and Pork

The kids and I had picked a bunch of apples earlier in the month to make applesauce. I had made a couple batches but hadn't had the time to finish. This was a great way to use up some more of the apples that were becoming overripe. It was pretty quick and simple to put together. Personally, I wasn't a big fan. But then again, I'm pretty picky about my apples. I thought the topping/sauce was a too sugary. My family once again disagreed with my assessment. Everyone loved the apples. The girls were fighting over seconds before they even finished their first helpings. I've been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our meals and this is a great kid-friendly dish. (Although, I've yet to see apples served a way that my kids won't eat them.) It would also make a great after school snack or FHE refreshment. The girls were busy watching Twitches when I made it, but I think its something Katy and Xandy could make together without much help from me. They are getting to the age where they are asking to help cook and bake more often and like recipes they can do mostly without help.

I liked the idea of using yogurt to coat the pork instead of mayonnaise. I have a really good chicken recipe that is coated with a mix of mayonnaise and pesto. I think I'll try substituting the mayonnaise with yogurt for a healthy variation next time. Jared gave me the raised eyebrow look when he saw me spreading yogurt on the pork but in the end he liked it. I didn't realize that I didn't have any sage at home until I went to make it. Being as it was Sunday, we proceeded without the sage. I was going to borrow some from a friend until I realized it only called for 1/2 tsp. It hardly seemed worth the drive. I don't know how much of a difference the sage would've made, but we enjoyed the recipe just fine without it. I could see us making this recipe again. All of the ingredients are items we usually keep on hand, so it would make a great meal on those "what on earth should I make for dinner?" nights

Halloween Bites

Due to a week-end chalked full of chili cook-offs, dinner parties, and potlucks, I made last week-ends meal on Monday.
Pumpkin Bisque : This was incredibly fast and simple to make. I love that the only "cooking" part was sauteing the butter and onions. I'm not a big fan of cold soups, so I did warm it up before serving. I also had the advantage of talking to Jennie and Martin first so I decreased the sugar by half. I really liked it. Jared thought it was okay, but not as a main dish. The kids weren't big fans. I think it has potential to become a seasonal repeat. Who knows, it may even grow on the rest of the family.


Spider Bread: This makes a TON of bread, especially when you accidentally thaw a 5th loaf. I was disappointed that our store only carried the white bread and not the wheat. It actually took a long time for me to even find any bread period. I was relieved when I finally found two bags at the bottom of one of the freezer sections. The spider was relatively easy to form, although trying to arrange it so it fit on the pan was a little harder. I tried to use toothpicks to prop the legs up at an angle. The dough was too heavy for the toothpicks which caused the legs to keep falling. I drew again on the experience of Jennie and Martin and used foil cylinders to prop up the legs. Bella was fascinated watching it grow through the oven window while it cooked. The girls arrived home from school shortly after it came out were impressed with the spider. They were all anxious for it to cool so they could test the spider eggs. The eggs turned out to be the favorite part. A really neat Halloween themed treat. It would be neat to serve at any Halloween party or potluck. You could even cut a hole out of the body and put a dip in there.